ethics

A growing set of downloadable, mix-and-match stem cell resources and activities suitable for a variety of educational settings. All components have been extensively tested, and come with full instructions.

On November 11th and 12th, stem cell scientists, clinicians and social scientists from around the world gathered at the University of Sussex to discuss and debate current practices around stem cell research and therapy in an international conference organised by the Centre for Bionetworking, Department of Anthropology. Specifically, delegates sought to answer the central question of the conference: What is there between bona fide and rogue stem cell therapy?

On the 16th of April, a hearing was held at the European Parliament to discuss a petition which seeks to ban all EU funding for research or development activities which involves the destruction of human embryos. A number of EuroStemCell partners attending the hearing. The European Commission has until the 28th of May to respond and we will keep you updated on the developments with this petition.

As stem cell research moves towards new medical applications, research teams must resolve new ethical questions. For example, if cells are obtained from a human donor, how can they be used? What type of permission has been obtained from the donor or his/her family and what are the limits of this permission? These are the issues currently being tackled by the EU-funded stem cell research project STELLAR. Ton Rabelink, Coordinator of STELLAR, describes his experience of bringing biologists and ethicists together to tackle the practical ethical questions raised by their planned research.